It's Paranoia Time

SHIP'S LOG:

     Having the furling system, the biggest problems to overcome is how to attach it. That is not a simple problem either.  With ABISHAG on the hard, the top of her mast, where the top end of the forestay is attached, is some 60ft above the ground. The old forestay must be removed and the new forestay, enclosed within the furling system, must be attached.  But how to do it?

     I could have the mast removed from the boat. It would only cost $18 a foot to take it out and then put it back. $18 a foot times 58 feet: you do the math! It's more money than I have.

     The yard does not have a crane that could reach that height which means that there is no way to put someone in a bosun's chair and haul them up to the top of the mast twice, once to remove the old and once to install the new.

     The yard does have a man-lift, sort of a platform on an arm that lifts someone up but sadly it is about 8 feet short of the height we need. Dean, the yard manager, tried yesterday to removed old forestay but just was not able to do it.

     After much head scratching, Dean of the Yard, Kevin of the Sail Loft and I decided that the best way to do this is launch ABISHAG. Once she is in the water, it should be possible to used the man-lift on the bulkhead that surrounds the launching bay to get the job done. It looks like it will be sometime next week.

     Now comes the paranoia. ABISHAG has sat for over a year. Sure she was ready to go last year at this time. And sure the Yard has said that everything will be ready. Now it is a matter of re-installing the batteries and crank the engine and all will be right with the world. But will it be? Will everything work? Will there be an unanticipated problem?  Unlike most boat owners, I hate to watch them launch my boat. The most nerve racking day of the sailing season is the day of the launch, followed by the second must never racking day, the trip down river to TYC. ( The third, by the way, is the trip up the river in October to haul the boat.) O well, it is part of the fun of boat ownership.